From 5-star hotels to shops, BMC sets 1-month deadline for Marathi signboards

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Law Committee on Wednesday issued a one-month deadline for hotels, corporate offices, shops, and commercial establishments across Mumbai to install Marathi signboards, Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi said.

Chairing the BMC Law Committee meeting, Ghadi said that despite clear directives from the Supreme Court regarding Marathi signboards, thousands of shops, hotels, and commercial establishments in Mumbai still do not display signage in Marathi.

“From five-star hotels to corporate towers, all establishments will have to put up Marathi signboards within a month,” Ghadi said.

He added that the issue did not receive enough attention in the past few years as the BMC did not have an elected body. “Now we have instructed the BMC’s licence department to serve notices and identify establishments violating Marathi signboard norms. If some establishments still do not follow the rule, we will give them a Shiv Sena-style reply,” Ghadi said.

The issue was raised during the meeting by Tajinder Singh Tiwana, a member of the Legal Committee and a municipal corporator. Tiwana pointed out that several prominent hotels and commercial buildings in Mumbai, including The Westin and Morgan Stanley, display their names only in English.

Law Committee chairperson Diksha Karkar questioned the administration over the implementation of the Supreme Court’s directions. “Given the Supreme Court’s unequivocal orders regarding Marathi signboards, what exactly is the administration doing? Why is the enforcement of these measures not being made mandatory? We get to see signboards in Urdu and Hindi, but not in Marathi. This rule will now be implemented, and we will monitor it,” Karkar said.

MNS corporator Yashwant Killedar also supported the issue during the Standing Committee meeting and said BMC officials should not delay implementation and must take strict action against establishments violating the norms.